Journal article
Changes in grey matter development in autism spectrum disorder
Brain structure & function, Vol.218(4), pp.929-942
07/2013
DOI: 10.1007/s00429-012-0439-9
PMCID: PMC3695319
PMID: 22777602
Abstract
Results on grey matter (GM) structural alterations in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are inconclusive. Moreover, little is known about age effects on brain-structure abnormalities in ASD beyond childhood. Here, we aimed to examine regional GM volumes in a large sample of children, adolescents, and adults with ASD. Magnetic resonance imaging scans were obtained in 47 male ASD subjects and 51 matched healthy controls aged 8–50 years. We used whole-brain voxel-based morphometry to first assess group differences in regional GM volume across age. Moreover, taking a cross-sectional approach, group differences in age effects on regional GM volume were investigated. Compared to controls, ASD subjects showed reduced GM volumes in the anterior cingulate cortex, posterior superior temporal sulcus, and middle temporal gyrus. Investigation of group differences in age effects on regional GM volume revealed complex, region-specific alterations in ASD. While GM volumes in the amygdala, temporoparietal junction, septal nucleus and middle cingulate cortex increased in a negative quadratic fashion in both groups, data indicated that GM volume curves in ASD subjects were shifted to the left along the age axis. Moreover, while GM volume in the right precentral gyrus decreased linearly with age in ASD individuals, GM volume development in controls followed a U-shaped pattern. Based on a large sample, our voxel-based morphometry results on group differences in regional GM volumes help to resolve inconclusive findings from previous studies in ASD. Results on age-related changes of regional GM volumes suggest that ASD is characterized by complex alterations in lifetime trajectories of several brain regions that underpin social-cognitive and motor functions.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Changes in grey matter development in autism spectrum disorder
- Creators
- Ellen Greimel - Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Munich, Munich, GermanyBarbara Nehrkorn - Cognitive Neurology Section, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-3), Research Center Juelich, Juelich, GermanyMartin Schulte-Rüther - Cognitive Neurology Section, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-3), Research Center Juelich, Juelich, GermanyGereon R Fink - Department of Neurology, University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, GermanyThomas Nickl-Jockschat - JARA-Translational Brain Medicine, Juelich/Aachen, GermanyBeate Herpertz-Dahlmann - JARA-Translational Brain Medicine, Juelich/Aachen, GermanyKerstin Konrad - JARA-Translational Brain Medicine, Juelich/Aachen, GermanySimon B Eickhoff - Institute for Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Brain structure & function, Vol.218(4), pp.929-942
- DOI
- 10.1007/s00429-012-0439-9
- PMID
- 22777602
- PMCID
- PMC3695319
- NLM abbreviation
- Brain Struct Funct
- ISSN
- 1863-2653
- eISSN
- 1863-2661
- Publisher
- Springer-Verlag; Berlin/Heidelberg
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 07/2013
- Academic Unit
- Psychiatry; Neuroscience and Pharmacology
- Record Identifier
- 9984003445002771
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